Five bodies found in restive Aceh<\/p>\n
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Five dead bodies with gunshot wounds were found in separate
\nlocations after a gunfight between security forces and members of
\nthe Free Aceh Movement (GAM) that lasted all of Sunday, an
\nIndonesian Red Cross (PMI) volunteer worker said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Muhammad Subur, a PMI worker based in Banda Aceh, said that
\nthe Red Cross workers evacuated three bodies from a ravine below
\nthe highway in Gunung Paroe area, some 30 kilometers south of
\nBanda Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"The three male bodies were then taken to Zainoel Abidin
\nHospital in Banda Aceh,\" Subur said.<\/p>\n
Later in the day, two more bodies with gunshot wounds were
\nfound separately, he said. One was found in the village of Lhong,
\nAceh Besar, 40 kilometers south of Banda Aceh, and the other was
\nfound in the village of Babah Dua Kuala, West Aceh, around 250
\nkilometers south of Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
There have been claims from both the security forces and GAM
\nthat the dead casualties were their own members. Neither party
\nhas yet claimed responsibility for the killings.<\/p>\n
GAM spokesman for East Aceh Ishak Daud said that one of the
\nclashes between the military and GAM members took place in Alue
\nBu Baroh, East Aceh, some 200 meters away from the GAM station
\nwhere Aceh provincial legislative councillor Ghazali Usman is
\nbeing held.<\/p>\n
\"Failing to slip into GAM Headquarters, the (Indonesian)
\ntroops shot Zulkifli Daud, 27, who was working at his fish pond,\"
\nIshak Daud said. \"We had to move our station after the clash.\"<\/p>\n
The other clash on Sunday took place in the village of Paya
\nAbeuk in Kuta Makmur district, North Aceh, around 20 kilometers
\nsouth of Lhokseumawe.<\/p>\n
GAM claimed that at least five Indonesian Military (TNI)
\nmembers were killed in the shootout.<\/p>\n
In West Aceh, GAM claimed to have attacked the Police's Mobil
\nBrigade (Brimob) station in Meulaboh, 245 south of Banda Aceh,
\nbut local GAM spokesman Tengku Cut Man did not say that any
\nofficers were killed.<\/p>\n
In South Aceh, GAM intercepted Brimob troops who were combing
\nthe village of Krueng Cut in the district of Kluet Utara, 500
\nkilometers south of Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Firdaus said on Monday that he had
\nyet to receive any reports of GAM attacks.<\/p>\n
\"GAM attacks in the night (Sunday) were very possible, but no
\nTNI members or police officers were killed,\" Firdaus said.<\/p>\n
Acehnese separatists have been fighting for independence since
\nthe 1970s.<\/p>\n
Violence continues in the restive province despite attempts by
\nthe government to accommodate the demands of Acehnese people, who
\nhave become increasingly disillusioned with Jakarta following
\nhuman rights violations committed by security forces in the past.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/five-bodies-found-in-restive-aceh-1447893297",
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